Women's Tennis

UCSB Battles Through the Cold; Loses Home Opener to University of San Francisco

Kiersten Meehan (photo by Agapito)

Jan 26, 2014

SANTA BARBARA,Calif.-- The UC Santa Barbara women's tennis team (0-2) hosted the University of San Francisco Dons (4-0) for the team's home opener in the 2014 season. Battling through the cold and fighting off an hour delay due to rain, UCSB faced tough conditions throughout the entire day of action. The Gauchos fell just short in several matches; suffering a 7-0 loss to the Dons.

The doubles matches went in favor for San Francisco. The Gaucho pair of Jaimee Gilbertson and Paolo Cos endured a competitive 6-3 loss to the pairing of Andrea Ka and Marina Nikolic. With Priscilla Garcia and Luisa Ortiz Candido also enduring a 6-3 loss, the Dons ultimately won the doubles point.

The singles matches proved to be as tough as the doubles matches as UCSB could not record a win to avoid the sweep. Despite the losses, the Gauchos played well and fell just a few points shy of turning the score around. On court No. 3, freshman Jaimee Gilbertson fell short of forcing a third set as she fought hard in the second set of the match. The same occurred for junior Stacy Yam as she forced a tie-break in the second set, but eventually dropped a 6-2, 7-6 decision. Freshman Melissa Baker came the closest of tallying a win for the Gauchos. After dropping the first set to Brooke Irish, Baker came storming back to win the second set, 6-4. Baker and the Gaucho team fought hard to the end, but ultimately dropped a 7-0 decision to San Francisco.